Sergeant Stubby

Sergeant Stubby was a dog that was called the most decorated war dog of WW1 and the only one who got nominated for rank and then promoted to sergeant through combat. He was born in 1916 and died on 16 March 1926, being the official mascot of the 102nd Infantry Regiment, USA and assigned to the 26th Yankee Division during World War 1.

He served his country for 18 months and participated in 17 battles on the Western Front. He showed his bravery by saving his regiment from surprise mustard gas attacks, from where he got injured, after his recovery he returned with a specially designed gas mask. Also, coughing a spy German by his pants in the Argonne, until American soldiers arrived. That bring him the nomination for the rank of Sergeant. All his actions were published in the contemporary American newspaper describing him as a Boston Terrier or "American bull terrier" from an uncertain breed.

Stubby was wandering the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut. In July 1917 while 102 infantry members were training near the campus. Corporal James Araobert Conroy became attached to Stubby. When it came time to go on an expedition, the Corporal hid the dog on board the ship. At deportation to France, the corporal was now keeping Stubby under his overcoat, and was discovered by Conroy's commanding officer. It allowed him to stay on board and be trained.

Women of the town made Stubby a chamois coat upon which his many medals were pinned. Lately, he got injured again, in the chest and leg by a grenade. At the end of the war, Robert Conroy took Stubby home, where he becomes a celebrity who was leading and marching in many parades across the country. He met Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Warren G. Harding.[6] He also appeared on vaudeville stages owned by Sylvester Z. Poli and was awarded lifetime memberships to the American Legion and the YMCA.

Anna Bausum wrote: "The brindle-patterned pup probably owed at least some of his parentage to the evolving family of Boston Terriers, a breed so new that even its name was in flux: Boston Round Heads, American...and Boston Bull Terriers."

Stubby died in his sleep in March 1926.[4] After his death, he was preserved with his skin mounted on a plaster cast. Conroy later presented Stubby to the Smithsonian in 1956.